1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor device having circuits formed by thin-film transistors (hereinafter designated as TFT) and relates to a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device. For example, this invention relates to an electrooptical device typified by a liquid crystal display panel and relates to electronic equipment provided with such electrooptical devices as components.
It should be first noted that a semiconductor device described in this specification signifies a general device workable by the use of semiconductor characteristics. In this sense, electrooptical devices, semiconductor circuits. and electronic equipment are all semiconductor devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Development has advanced in a semiconductor device having large-area integrated circuits that are formed by TFTs on a substrate having an insulating surface. An active matrix type liquid crystal display, an EL display, and a close contact type image sensor are known as typical examples thereof. Specifically, a TFT in which a crystalline silicon film (typically, polysilicon film) is made an active layer (hereinafter, designated as polysilicon TFT) has greater electron field-effect mobility, and therefore, a variety of functional circuits can also be formed.
For example, the active matrix type liquid crystal display includes a pixel circuit for displaying an image for each functional block, a shift register circuit based on a CMOS circuit, a level shifter circuit, a buffer circuit, a driving circuit for controlling the pixel circuit, such as a sampling circuit. These circuits are formed on a single substrate.
The pixel circuit of the active matrix type liquid crystal display has hundreds of thousands to millions of pixels each of which is provided with a TFT, and the TFT has pixel electrodes. An opposite electrode is mounted on the opposite substrate side with a liquid crystal therebetween, thereby forming a kind of capacitor in which the liquid crystals serve as dielectrics. Furthermore, voltage applied to each pixel is controlled by the switching function of the TFT so as to control an electric charge to the capacitor, thereby driving the liquid crystals and controlling the amount of transmitted light. As a result, an image is displayed.
If the pixel circuit and the driving circuit are formed on the insulating surface, capacity (i.e., parasitic capacitance) is inevitably generated between multi-layer wirings to be formed.
The amount of the parasitic capacitance depends on an electrode area where a lower layer wiring and an upper layer wiring overlap, the film thickness of an insulating film between the overlapping lower and upper layer wirings, or other factors.
In recent years, as the reduction in the size and in the power consumption of a circuit advances, the influence of the parasitic capacitance has become too strong to ignore. For this reason, a proposal has been made to enlarge the electrode area of an auxiliary capacity in order to reduce the influence of the parasitic capacitance. However, a problem resides in that the aperture ratio of a pixel region is lessened if the electrode area is enlarged.
Additionally, if the lower layer wiring and the upper layer wiring are constructed not to overlap with each other, then the aperture ratio thereof is lessened similarly.
Especially, in the active matrix type liquid crystal display not more than an inch diagonally in size, the aperture ratio has received the greatest attention.
In order to improve the aperture ratio of the pixel region, attempts are being made. For example, the width of a wiring is narrowed not to enlarge a wiring area, or lower and upper layer wirings are laid on each other to the utmost limit so as to form multi-layer wirings.
In addition, a contact hole that reaches a source region and a drain region also has a reduced minute size by making circuits compact. A way of obtaining good contact connection is to taper the contact hole so as to form a lean. However, the size of the contact hole is increased by tapering it extremely. In a situation in which a microscopic contact hole whose diameter is about 0.5-1.5 xcexcm, for example, is formed, etching defects, such as over-etching or etching residue, have occurred according to some etching conditions when an interlayer insulating film is thick, because the film thickness of a TFT in a source region or drain region is only 10 nm-50 nm.
The present invention is a technique for solving the aforementioned problems. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to reduce parasitic capacitance formed between multi-layer wirings and improve display characteristics in a semiconductor device, and additionally, to provide a manufacturing method for realizing such a semiconductor device.
A semiconductor device according to an aspect of the present invention disclosed in this specification is characterized in that it comprises a first wiring on an insulating surface, a first interlayer insulating film covering the first wiring, a second interlayer insulating film in contact with a part of the first interlayer insulating film, and a second wiring on the first and second interlayer insulating films, wherein the first and second interlayer insulating films are laminated together in a region where the first and second wirings overlap with each other.
In the aforementioned structure, an etching rate of the first interlayer insulating film is lower than that of the second interlayer insulating film.
Preferably, in the aforementioned structure, a selective ratio of an etching rate of the first interlayer insulating film to the second interlayer insulating film is 1.5 or more.
Additionally, in the aforementioned""structure, a film thickness of the first interlayer insulating film is 50-300 nm.
Additionally, in the aforementioned structure, a film thickness of the second interlayer insulating film is 150 nm-1 xcexcm.
A semiconductor device according to another aspect of the invention including at least a TFT on an insulating surface is characterized in that a first interlayer insulating film, a second interlayer insulating film, and a second wiring are formed above a first wiring forming the TFF, and above a source region and drain region of the TFT, a gate insulating film, a first interlayer insulating film, and a second wiring are formed.
In the aforementioned structure, the sum of a film thickness of the gate insulating film and a film thickness of the first interlayer insulating film is 0.1 xcexcm or more.
A semiconductor device according to still another aspect of the invention including at least a TFT on an insulating surface is characterized in that, above a first wiring forming the TFT, a second wiring exists via a first interlayer insulating film and second interlayer insulating film.
In the aforementioned structure, the TFT has a source region and a drain region, and the first interlayer insulating film is disposed over the source region or the drain region.
Additionally, in the aforementioned structure, the TFT is a reverse-stagger type TFT.
Additionally, in the aforementioned structure, the first wiring is a gate wiring.
A semiconductor device according to still another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a semiconductor device including at least a pixel circuit and a driving circuit for controlling the pixel circuit, the circuit and the driving circuit disposed on a same substrate, comprises a pixel TFT forming the pixel circuit, the pixel TFT having a channel formation region, a gate insulating film, a gate wiring, a second wiring, and a plurality of insulating films, each having an etching rate different each other, wherein the channel formation region of the pixel TFT is formed to overlap with a part of the gate wiring with the gate insulating film therebetween, and the part of the gate wiring overlaps with the a second wiring with the plurality of insulating films therebetween.
In the aforementioned structure, the second wiring is a source line or a drain line.
Additionally, in the aforementioned structure, the driving circuit comprises an n-channel type TFT having an LDD region wherein at least a part of or all of the LDD region is formed to overlap with the gate wiring of the n-channel type TFT, and an LDD region of the pixel TFT is formed not to overlap with a gate electrode of the pixel TFT.
Additionally, in the aforementioned structure, at least a part of or all of an LDD region of an n-channel type TFT forming the driving circuit is formed to overlap with a gate electrode of the n-channel type TFT, an LDD region of a pixel TFT forming the pixel circuit is formed not to overlap with a gate electrode of the pixel TFT, and a capacitance storage of the pixel circuit is formed of a shielding film disposed on an organic resin film, an oxide of the shielding film, and a pixel electrode.
A manufacturing method for realizing a semiconductor device constructed as above is characterized in that it comprises a first step of forming a first wiring on an insulating substrate, a second step of forming a first interlayer insulating film covering the first wiring, a third step of forming a second interlayer insulating film on the first interlayer insulating film, a fourth step of selectively removing a part of the second interlayer insulating film, and a fifth step of forming a second wiring on the second interlayer insulating film that overlaps with the first wiring.
A manufacturing method according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including at least a TFT on an insulating surface, comprises a first step of forming an active layer on the insulating surface, a second step of forming a gate insulating film in contact with the active layer, a third step of adding an n-type impurity element or a p-type impurity element to a part of the active layer, thereby forming a source region or a drain region, a fourth step of forming a first interlayer insulating film covering a gate wiring and a gate electrode, a fifth step of forming a second interlayer insulating film on the first interlayer insulating film, a sixth step of etching the second interlayer insulating film, thereby eliminating the second interlayer insulating film disposed over the source region or the drain region, a seventh step of etching the first interlayer insulating film and the gate insulating film, thereby forming a contact hole that reaches the source region or the drain region, and an eighth step of forming a second wiring in contact with the source region or the drain region, the second wiring disposed on the second interlayer insulating film that overlaps with the gate electrode.
A manufacturing method according to still another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including at least a pixel circuit and driving circuit for controlling the pixel circuit, each disposed on a same substrate, comprises a first step of forming an active layer on an insulating surface, a second step of forming a gate insulating film in contact with the active layer, a third step of forming a gate wiring and a gate electrode on the gate insulating film, a fourth step of adding an n-type impurity element or a p-type impurity element to a part of the active layer, thereby forming an n-type impurity region or a p-type impurity region, a fifth step of forming a first interlayer insulating film covering the gate wiring and the gate electrode, a sixth step of selectively forming a second interlayer insulating film on the first interlayer insulating film that overlaps with the gate electrode, a seventh step of etching the first interlayer insulating film and the gate insulating film, thereby forming a contact hole that reaches the n-type impurity region or the p-type impurity region, and an eighth step of forming a second wiring in contact with the n-type impurity region or the p-type impurity region, the second wiring disposed on the second interlayer insulating film that overlaps with the gate electrode.
A manufacturing method according to still another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device including at least a pixel circuit and driving circuit for controlling the pixel circuit, each disposed on a same substrate, comprises a first step of forming an active layer on an insulating surface, a second step of forming a gate insulating film in contact with the active layer, a third step of forming a gate wiring and a gate electrode on the gate insulating film, a fourth step of adding an n-type impurity element or a p-type impurity element to a part of the active layer, thereby forming an n-type impurity region or a p-type impurity region, a fifth step of forming a first interlayer insulating film covering the gate wiring and the gate electrode, a sixth step of etching the first interlayer insulating film and the gate insulating film, thereby forming a contact hole that reaches the n-type impurity region or the p-type impurity region, a seventh step of selectively forming a second interlayer insulating film on the first interlayer insulating film, and an eighth step of forming a second wiring in contact with the n-type impurity region or the p-type impurity region, the second wiring disposed on the second interlayer insulating film that overlaps with the gate electrode.
By application of the present invention, a parasitic capacitance formed by multi-layer wirings can be decreased, and thereby the performance and reliability of a semiconductor device (herein, specifically, electrooptical device) can be improved greatly.
In addition, in a pixel circuit of an electrooptical device typified by an active matrix type liquid crystal display, the parasitic capacitance can be made sufficiently small in spite of the fact that a gate wiring and a second wiring are caused to overlap with each other, and an aperture ratio is increased. This makes it possible to increase an aperture ratio in an active matrix type liquid crystal display device less than 1 inch diagonally in size, and to decrease the parasitic capacitance, and, additionally, to secure a sufficient capacitance storage. In addition, this brings about improvement of the performance and reliability of a semiconductor device (herein, specifically, electronic equipment) that has such an electrooptical device serving as a display medium.